The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday approved an amendment to the Staple Food Law that would end decades of government control of rice output by fiscal 2008 and put farm groups in charge of production, officials said.

A compulsory rice acreage reduction program in place since fiscal 1971 would be scrapped and a new output program would be introduced under which government involvement would be limited to advising farming groups and checking yield plans.

The Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenchu) and other farming groups would draw up production plans and present them to the government.